Portal:Tropical cyclones

The Tropical Cyclones Portal

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A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center, a closed low-level circulation and a spiral arrangement of numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rainfall. Tropical cyclones feed on the heat released when moist air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air. They are fueled by a different heat mechanism than other cyclonic windstorms such as Nor'easters, European windstorms and polar lows, leading to their classification as "warm core" storm systems. Most tropical cyclones originate in the doldrums, approximately ten degrees from the Equator.

The term "tropical" refers to both the geographic origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively in tropical regions of the globe, as well as to their formation in maritime tropical air masses. The term "cyclone" refers to such storms' cyclonic nature, with anticlockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere. Depending on its location and intensity, a tropical cyclone may be referred to by names such as "hurricane", "typhoon", "tropical storm", "cyclonic storm", "tropical depression" or simply "cyclone".

Types of cyclone: 1. A "Typhoon" is a tropical cyclone located in the North-west Pacific Ocean which has the most cyclonic activity and storms occur year-round. 2. A "Hurricane" is also a tropical cyclone located at the North Atlantic Ocean or North-east Pacific Ocean which have an average storm activity and storms typically form between May 15 and November 30. 3. A "Cyclone" is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.

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Hurricane Pali at peak intensity, over the Central Pacific on January 13

Hurricane Pali was the earliest-forming Pacific hurricane on record, being the first Pacific hurricane to occur in January since Hurricane Ekeka of 1992. The first tropical cyclone of the 2016 Pacific hurricane season, Pali originated as an area of low pressure within a persistent trough, near the equator on January 6, 2016. Deep convection gradually built up around the center of the disturbance as the system curved northward, before it organized into a tropical depression on the next day, making the system the earliest recorded tropical cyclone in the Pacific hurricane basin. The system quickly intensified into a tropical storm, resulting in it being named Pali. During the next few days, Pali slowly moved northward while slowly curving towards the west, strengthening somewhat before weakening due to the presence of wind shear. On January 10, Pali slowly turned eastward and proceeded to re-strengthen as wind shear diminished.

On January 12, Pali strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale (SSWHS) while curving towards the south. The next day, Pali reached its peak intensity as a Category 2 hurricane, with 1-minute maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (155 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 978 mbar (hPa; 28.88 inHg). Afterward, Pali quickly began to weaken, as the storm encountered stronger wind shear, with the storm weakening into a Category 1 hurricane several hours later, before weakening into a tropical storm later that day. On January 14, Pali weakened into a tropical depression before degenerating into a remnant low the next day, since conditions became increasingly hostile. Later that day, Pali's remnants dissipated near the same location where they had formed roughly a week ago. Pali formed and tracked near the equator, forming at a latitude of 3.3°N and tracking as low as 2.6°N as a tropical depression. This made Pali the second-lowest latitude tropical cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere at the time, which was extremely unusual, given the unfavorable conditions that are usually in place around the equator. (Full article...)

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Tropical cyclone forecasting is the science of forecasting where a tropical cyclone's center, and its effects, are expected to be at some point in the future. There are several elements to tropical cyclone forecasting: track forecasting, intensity forecasting, rainfall forecasting, storm surge, tornado, and seasonal forecasting. While skill is increasing in regard to track forecasting, intensity forecasting skill remains unchanged over the past several years. Seasonal forecasting began in the 1980s in the Atlantic basin and has spread into other basins in the years since. (Full article...)

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This photograph shows the bowl-shaped eye of Typhoon Yuri in the western Pacific Ocean just west of the Northern Mariana Islands. The eye wall descends almost to the sea surface, a distance of nearly 45,000 feet (13 800 meters). In this case the eye is filled with clouds, but in many cases the sea surface can be seen through the eye. Yuri grew to super typhoon status, packing maximum sustained winds estimated at 165 miles per hour (270 km/h). The storm moved west toward the Philippines before turning northeast into the north Pacific Ocean, thus avoiding any major landmass.

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The 1998 Pacific hurricane season was a fairly average Pacific hurricane season, with 16 total systems forming; despite this, it had nine hurricanes and six major hurricanes, which was well above average. The season officially started on May 15 in the eastern Pacific and on June 1 in the central Pacific, and ended on November 30; these dates conventionally delimit the period during which most tropical cyclones form in that region. The first tropical cyclone developed on June 11, about ten days later than the normal start of the season. The final storm of the year, Hurricane Madeline, dissipated on October 20. Storm activity in the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's warning zone was low, with just one tropical depression observed in the region. Two tropical cyclones from the eastern Pacific (Darby and Estelle) also entered the central Pacific; the former did so as a hurricane.

The most notable tropical cyclone of the year was Hurricane Isis, which killed fourteen people when it made landfall on southern Baja California Sur and coastal Sinaloa in Mexico. Isis caused considerable damage in the nation while destroying more than 700 homes and damaging dozens of cars. It later produced sporadic rainfall in the southwestern United States, leading to some traffic accidents. In addition to Isis, Tropical Storm Javier moved ashore the coast of Jalisco in Mexico; the country also experienced indirect effects from four other storms, all of which remained offshore. One tropical cyclone, Hurricane Lester, affected Central America, causing two deaths in Guatemala, and later brought heavy rains to southern Mexico. Three tropical cyclones brought light to moderate rainfall to the southwestern United States, and one hurricane produced rough surf along the coast of California. Hurricane Madeline contributed to a deadly and costly flood in southern Texas. (Full article...)

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Currently active tropical cyclones

Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2026): No active systems

East and Central Pacific (2026): Tropical Storm Fausto; Hurricane Genevieve

West Pacific (2026): Typhoon Dolphin

North Indian Ocean (2026): Deep Depression BOB 03

Mediterranean (2026–27): No active systems

South-West Indian Ocean (2026–27): No active systems

Australian region (2026–27): No active systems

South Pacific (2026–27): No active systems

South Atlantic (2026–27): No active systems

Last updated: 15:58, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

July 27

1862 - A typhoon made landfall near Hong Kong, killing 80,000 people.
1943 - A US Air Force pilot flew his North American T-6 Texan trainer directly into a hurricane off the Gulf Coast of the United States, making it the first hurricane entered by reconnaissance aircraft.
2011 - Tropical Storm Nock-ten (pictured) makes landfall over in Luzon, Philippines where it killed 75 people with damages of US$65.7 million in the country alone.

July 28,

1996 - Hurricane Cesar–Douglas made landfall in Nicaragua. Cesar killed 67 people and caused over $39 million of damage.
2008 - Typhoon Fung-wong makes landfall over Taiwan as a Category 2 typhoon, which killed 23 people and have damages of over $500 million.
2023 - Typhoon Doksuri (pictured) made landfall in southern China, becoming the costliest Pacific typhoon on record after $28.4 billion in damage.

July 29,

1982 - Typhoon Bess (pictured) reaches its peak intensity with 1-minute sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph). Bess impacted Japan which killed 95 people and damaged about US$2.3 billion.
2004 - Hurricane Darby reached its peak intensity with 195 km/h (120 mph) winds in the open Pacific Ocean. Darby later brought heavy rain to Hawaii.

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Did you know…

…that the first recorded instance of two tropical cyclones holding category 5 status, on the Saffir–Simpson scale, simultaneously was on September 11th of the 1961 Pacific typhoon season, with typhoons Pamela and Nancy (pictured)?
…that the Australian region have three distinct lists of names for tropical storms, each one of them being administered by agencies in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, respectively?
…that the Joint Typhoon Warning Center considers that Typhoon Vera (pictured) of 1986 is actually two distinct systems, formed from two separated low-level circulations?
…that Cyclone Freddy (track pictured) in 2023 was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone recorded?

Did you know archive

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The following are images from various tropical cyclone-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A fictitious synoptic chart of an extratropical cyclone affecting the UK and Ireland. The blue arrows between isobars indicate the direction of the wind, while the "L" symbol denotes the centre of the "low". Note the occluded, cold and warm frontal boundaries. (from Cyclone)
Image 2A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 3Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 4Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 5An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 6All but the most expensive bottles of water were sold out at this Publix supermarket before Hurricane Irma; in the week preceding the storm, water sold out soon after shipments arrived (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 7Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 8Tropical cyclones form when the energy released by the condensation of moisture in rising air causes a positive feedback loop over warm ocean waters. (from Cyclone)
Image 9Wind damage varies exponentially with wind speed, so that small increases in wind strength can dramatically increase damage. Damages rise by about a factor of four for every category increase in the Saffir–Simpson scale. (from Cyclone)
Image 10The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 11Effects in Buncombe County, North Carolina after Hurricane Helene passed through the area in September 2024. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 12Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 13Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 14Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 15Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 16Broken concrete utility pole in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which ranks fourth in costliest US tropical cyclones. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 17Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 18The dangerous semicircle is the upper-right corner, with the arrow marking the direction of motion of a Northern Hemisphere storm. Note that typhoons, etc. are asymmetrical, and semicircle is a convenient misnomer. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 19Hurricane Florence viewed from the International Space Station (from Cyclone)
Image 20An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 21Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 22The initial extratropical low-pressure area forms at the location of the red dot on the image. It is usually perpendicular (at a right angle to) the leaf-like cloud formation seen on satellite during the early stage of cyclogenesis. The location of the axis of the upper level jet stream is in light blue. (from Cyclone)
Image 23Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 24Flooding in Port Arthur, Texas caused by Hurricane Harvey. Harvey was the wettest and second-costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 25The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 26Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)

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This is a featured list, which represents some of the best list articles on English Wikipedia.

A Category 5 Atlantic hurricane is a tropical cyclone that reaches Category 5 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, within the Atlantic Ocean to the north of the equator. They are among the strongest tropical cyclones that can form on Earth, having 1-minute sustained wind speeds of at least 137 knots (254 km/h; 158 mph; 70 m/s). The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) currently estimates that 11 tropical cyclones between 1851 (the first Atlantic hurricane season to be included in the official Atlantic tropical cyclone record) and 1959 peaked as Category 5 hurricanes. However, because technologies such as satellite monitoring were not available until the 1960s, some cyclones may have remained undetected. Since 1960, 34 Atlantic hurricanes have reached Category 5. (Full article...)

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Related WikiProjects

WikiProject Tropical cyclones is the central point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones. Feel free to help!

WikiProject Weather is the main center point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of meteorology in general, and the parent project of WikiProject Tropical cyclones. Three other branches of WikiProject Weather in particular share significant overlaps with WikiProject Tropical cyclones:

The Non-tropical storms task force coordinates most of Wikipedia's coverage on extratropical cyclones, which tropical cyclones often transition into near the end of their lifespan.
The Floods task force takes on the scope of flooding events all over the world, with rainfall from tropical cyclones a significant factor in many of them.
WikiProject Severe weather documents the effects of extreme weather such as tornadoes, which landfalling tropical cyclones can produce.

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